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Transcript Theories of Counseling: Object Relations Theory PowerPoint produced by Melinda Haley, M.S., New Mexico State University. “This multimedia product and its contents are.
Theories of Counseling:
Object Relations Theory
PowerPoint produced by Melinda Haley, M.S., New Mexico State University.
“This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law:
any public performance or display, including transmission of an image over a network;
preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or part, of any images;
any rental, lease, or lending of the program.”
“Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2004”
Object Relations Theory
Basic Tenets
Examines the relationship between and among people.
Examines how the history of interpersonal relationships are transferred
from the past to the present through behavior.
Looks at the primary caregiver (this is culturally defined and might be the
mother, father, grandparents, extended family or community.)
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Object Relations Therapy
Attachment Theory
Ainsworth
Mother-infant relationship is the start of personality development.
Significant elements of the personality carry forward into later life.
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Object Relations Therapy
Attachment Theory
John Bowlby
Stresses the importance of the child developing in relation to the context
and environment.
Provided theory of attachment.
The child impacts the environment and the environment impacts the child.
Attachment styles: Secure, anxious/resistant, anxious/avoidant.
Securely attached children are able to successfully separate and
individuate.
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Object Relations Therapy
Theory of Personality
Humans are born with autonomous motivation to relate to other people.
Humans are born with a wide range of capabilities, possibilities and
capacities.
Children who feel loved, prized, nurtured, feel secure and develops trust
for the caretaker, can internalize positive effects.
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Object Relations Therapy
Development of Personality
The “other” person provides context and focus that the infant needs in his
or her early personality development.
Context: the “arms-around holding” that the caregiver provides for the
infant.
Focus: The direct” eye-to- eye” relationship that the caregiver provides
that the infant needs to relate to and think about experience.
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Object Relations Therapy
Development of Personality
The caretaker becomes the object that nurtures the infant’s attachment.
Without attachment formation, the infant will die.
Personality is formed through interaction with others.
The need for relationships throughout life is at the center of personality
development.
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Object Relations Therapy
Nature of Maladjustment
Pathology is viewed in terms of developmental arrest.
Developmental arrest results in unfinished, disorganized and unintegrated
parts of personality.
Individuals can also become traumatized by early attachment
disturbances.
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Object Relations Therapy
Main Concepts
Object: A person who provides gratification to the infant or person or with
whom a person relates.
Object relations is essentially an individuals need of important others from
infancy to old age.
Humans are essentially social and the need for relationships is at the core
of the self.
Humans exist both in an external and internal world.
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Object Relations Therapy
Main Concepts
The object that libido is continuously seeking is another human being.
Motivation is understood in terms of striving for a relationship.
Splitting: Infants who are exposed to a high degree of uncertainty and
stress may find it impossible to form an attachment. The infant then
separates everything bad from everything good.
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Object Relations Therapy
The Counseling Process
Client/therapist relationship: Person-to-person relationship with the
therapist is crucial.
Focus on the client: Therapists genuinely accept all clients and the
therapist follows the client’s affective lead.
Transference is also important but it is less important than the quality of
the therapist/client relationship.
The therapist shows deep empathy and attends to the client’s expressed
wish, dream or fantasy that brings understanding to an internalized
relational issue.
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Object Relations Therapy
Strategies for Helping Clients
The therapist builds a relationship, shows empathic understanding,
concern and acceptance and tries to uncover meaning in the client's inner
world.
The therapist works to create an environment in which the client can be
himself or herself and maintain autonomy.
Once the bond and trust has been established, the therapist goes after
painful, guarded material to confront the client and help him or her better
gain self-understanding.
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Object Relations Therapy
Strategies for Helping Clients
The therapist attends to the client’s inner world dimension (e.g. dreams,
fantasies, wishes and needs), looking for object relational issues.
The therapist also attends to what the client says, what the client does not
say, and how the client reacts.
Primacy of relationship is established over impulse and serves as the
central psychoanalytic rationale.
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Object Relations Therapy
Object relations has deepened our understanding of humans and their
relationships.
Object relations has transformed Western social policies (e.g. children are
placed in foster homes instead of impersonal institutions.)
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Object Relations Therapy
Disadvantages
The model fails to account for certain needs of the client (e.g. the need to
be alone or to regress.)
It may not work well with mandated clients or those who do not want to
explore themselves through the therapeutic relationship.
It is considered to be culture-bound.
Writings about object relations are complex and difficult to understand.
Transference and countertransference don’t always allow a client to work
through difficult feelings.
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Object Relations Therapy
Use with Diverse Populations
Some therapists believe that because object relations is about
relationships, it can adapt to other cultures.
Many feel it is universal in the way it looks at things.
It encompasses age, race, gender, nationality and socioeconomic status.
Cultural differences are brought out in the open immediately.
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Object Relations Therapy
The Individual, Family and the Collective Cultural Unconscious
Taub-Bynum’s work discusses:
Family and Culture: The family unit is the bearer of the culture. Family
and its function vary among different cultures.
The Family and the Collective Cultural Unconscious: The family
unconscious is composed of emotional energy from earliest life.
Therapeutic Implications: Clients often act out the family and cultural
unconscious.
Resources
Ivey, A. E., D’Andrea, M., Ivey, M. B. and Morgan, L. S. (2002). Theories of counseling
and psychotherapy: A multicultural perspective, 5th ed. Boston, MA.: Allyn &
Bacon.
James, R. K. & Gilliland, B. E. (2003). Theories and strategies in counseling and
psychotherapy, 5th ed. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Kottler, J. A. (2002). Theories in counseling and therapy: An experiential approach.
Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
“Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2004”